Have a major problem, I am supposed to be packing up the house for an move in the next couple of months and every time I go to do it the computer is there with pprune beckoning!

How can I break this addiction and just knuckle down and get on with it?

I know this has been suggested before and any ideas on which part of the house to start on first would be good, upstairs or downstairs?

TnT :ok:

Safety_Helmut

2nd Mar 2006, 12:04

TnT

Sounds like you need to pack the computer first ! :)

S_H

Lon More

2nd Mar 2006, 12:26

Start upstairs, if you do downstairs first you'll find that you're just moving stuff from upstairs to fill the vacuum.
A large skip in the front garden can be useful, especially if you can get stuff in from an upstairs window. Remember, if you haven't used it in the past year you can do without it, so a house move is as good a time as any to clear out the old.

acbus1

2nd Mar 2006, 13:54

if you haven't used it in the past year you can do without it
Know a good surgeon? :(

Onan the Clumsy

2nd Mar 2006, 13:56

Mac the Knife can help you

Curious Pax

2nd Mar 2006, 14:37

Lon More gives good advice, though I'd start higher. Empty the loft first, then upstairs, then downstairs. Do a room a day, because assuming you pack things in such a way as to allow them to survive the journey then it will take a long time to do everything. We moved ourselves last time but one, and left ourselves too little time, but fortunately we were moving out ahead of time so we had slack to finish, but not an ideal way of doing it. My son, who was only 2 at the time, still reminds me about the ironing board being dropped on his head as we rushed to fill the van! (Fortunately he only suffered a cut lip, but it looked dramatic!)

Capn Notarious

2nd Mar 2006, 14:50

Afore launching stuff in the skip. There is EBay. Tha ol metal oven dish now redundant: t't bloke over the road might want it for his nuts and bolts.
As for Pprune addiction :- there is only one painful cure. I dare not even think about it.

allan907

2nd Mar 2006, 14:57

Having had 30 years in the RAF I have had more moves than one can shake a big stick at (see other thread). The solution is quite simple: get the wife to do the packing and unpacking.

(May need a bit of tweeking on that idea t&t)

Ozzy

2nd Mar 2006, 15:05

Throw everything away and get some new gear. Works for me :E

Ozzy

SoundBarrier

2nd Mar 2006, 19:43

Having just done the deed myself (moving that is) I rekon the bestest way of doing it is such:-

1. Start a new thread on JB
2. Run to least used room with boxes and completely and properly fill ONE box
3. Go and see if there are any smart replies to thread posted in (1)
4. Post useless response including information about items packed in box in step (2)
5. Go back to (2) until either Pprune has too many threads or the room is empty.

Redo steps 1-5 once a week until you only have computer left. Now this is the hard part. I borrowed a laptop and bought 2 hrs on a cell connection. Ppruned until computer arrived at new location and was setup.

Now do the reverse, but Ppruning about what got broken in the move (if anything)

Good luck!

Foss

2nd Mar 2006, 20:05

Just moved house only a week or two ago. So...
1. Clear loft.
2. Play with camping gear found in loft.
3. Look at the state of the upstairs rooms and burst into tears.
4. Get movers to take sofas, bookcases, tables and get put in storage.
5. Loose movers telephone number. Weep again as all stuff now lost forever.
6. Realise you've got 400 cds and a thousand books, lower lip tremble.
7. Throw out 40 jars of out of date sauces and condiments.
8. Dismantle bed. Store bed in an industrial estate.
9. Get a call from the estate agents that the sale is delayed for a week.
10. Find camping gear, get sleeping bag. Weep quietly.

easy:{
Fos

B Fraser

2nd Mar 2006, 20:40

A number of good tips are .......

Enlist as much help as you can find.

Heavy items in the smallest possible boxes.

Colour code each box, when you get to your new house, put a coloured sticker on the door so it's blue boxes into the blue room etc etc.

make sure you have a cordless drill with sockets, screwdriver bits etc so beds can be dismantled in minutes. Bag up the screws, washers and bolts and label the bag.

Stay in a hotel on the first night so you can escape the chaos.

Whirlygig

2nd Mar 2006, 20:47

I've moved 3 times in 2005 (4 times in the last two years!) and one of the moves was a couple of hundred miles away.

I found that removal companies charged very little extra for packing of stuff; £150 inc VAT in two of my cases.

The other two moves were done by me and friends with vans. In those cases I took a few days off, packed stuff, put it in van, emptied van in new house, went back, packed more stuff etc etc. Mind you, I DID fill two skips with the first move! And am now well practiced at it!

Make sure that you pack ALL essentials at last minutes and into one box (i.e. kettle, tea, loo roll, wine with a screw cap, mug, glass, teaspoon); anything else can wait!.

Cheers

Whirls

ShyTorque

2nd Mar 2006, 22:11

"I found that removal companies charged very little extra for packing of stuff; £150 inc VAT in two of my cases."

Whirls, you were seen off! £150 to pack two cases........?
:E

Whirlygig

2nd Mar 2006, 22:13

Have you seen the size of my cases? I can only just fit my make-up bag in the boot of my car!!

Besides, after filling two skips, I don't have nearly so many possessions :D

Cheers

Whirls

Sammie_nl

2nd Mar 2006, 22:21

Universal tip on packing

Gather everything you think you need, discard half of it and double the budget.

Works for travelling and moving.

ShyTorque

2nd Mar 2006, 22:36

"I can only just fit my make-up bag in the boot of my car!"

That could be responded to in two ways.

1.) Say that surely that's more to do with the size of the car; it must have a very small boot because one can't imagine that you would need much make-up. :)

A tip for unpacking....always make a bed up as early in the day as you can - that way when you are absolutely knackered and want to fall down where you stand, you don't have to worry and can just down tools when you feel like it!

(10 moves in 16 years....life in the RAF...move no. 11 in progress as I type!)

Cheers

SBG

tall and tasty

3rd Mar 2006, 13:51

Afore launching stuff in the skipI'm so so tempted to do that but I can't the kids would kill me and then to watch the fluffy bunny go off into the sunset would be heart breaking!

No seriously thank you for everyone who has taken the time to reply.

Hate to say it I have been doing what SoundBarrier suggested but then you find another thread an a two min peek is a hour of reading in stitches and oh dear where did I get to.

Stay in a hotel on the first night so you can escape the chaos.that sounds a lovely idea B Fraser might just go and do that as there are loads within staggering distance!make sure you have a cordless drill with sockets, screwdriver bits etc so beds can be dismantled in minutes. Bag up the screws, washers and bolts and label the bag.
Now you are talking to a woman, don't we have a long knife, stiletto heeled shoe and a hammer instead of those electrical gadgets for doing DIY or has my box been filled with the wrong tools for years?

TnT

Ps off to tackle the next box :O

Lon More

3rd Mar 2006, 13:54

Whirls looks like you need a new car.
BTW, locking wheel nuts work better when on the wheels:=

G-CPTN

3rd Mar 2006, 14:16

TnT
Whilst an hotel might be fun for the children, an alternative (which we have used) is a family friendly B&B. I admit that I had 'inside knowledge', having stayed there myself on occasions before we bought the house, but with dogs and guinea pigs the children were distracted and entertained and forgot their 'fear' of a strange new environment. OTOH, a 'good' hotel MAY offer them the opportunity to play hide-and-seek along the corridors (been there and done that too). The whole 'hotel/B&B' thing is essential. You'll be too stressed to devote attention to the young 'uns and it's a mistake to spirit them away (by all means loan them to neighbours), but having a 'holiday' to look forward to (for you as well) means something positive (and allows for such surprises as last-minute failures to complete, or no leccie - the cow had taken the light fittings, or no water - the same cow had taken the washing-machine TAPS). It's reassuring to know that whatever happens you've got somewhere to sleep whilst the 'new' abode is stuffed with boxes (containing who-knows what!). A fresh start the following day allows you to tackle things in a controlled manner and not furiously opening boxes to find specific things. Of course you COULD plan to CAMP in the new house with sleeping bags (find where the nearest 'carry-out' is) and THAT could be the adventure. Tired children who have been removed from their safe environment don't make happy bunnies, on the other hand sending them away during the move CAN make them feel they've missed something. YOU know your bairns and judge accordingly (you may have parents near by).

It's worth keeping a card-index for each box . . . (and don't forget to identify the boxes!). You'll probably have boxes that stay packed for years to come . . .

ShyTorque

3rd Mar 2006, 15:09

"Now you are talking to a woman............. instead of those electrical gadgets for doing DIY or has my box been filled with the wrong tools for years?"

Well, I'm not going to answer that question - any takers? :E

I'l be in trouble again, I just know it! :O

Safety_Helmut

3rd Mar 2006, 15:13

or has my box been filled with the wrong tools for years?

Bl00dy hell TnT.

Just make sure you don't let the tools get in the wrong box !

S_H

Jerricho

3rd Mar 2006, 15:30

When trying to fit a body into a suitcase, removal of the limbs is a handy tip. ;)

4. Select either a decent White / Red---consume----offer words of comfort and support / abuse as and when relevant----watch with interest.

Never fails ! :ooh:

From one who was "co-erced" into "helping" with a house move in Essex last year:{

powdermonkey

3rd Mar 2006, 23:47

or has my box been filled with the wrong tools for years?
......................eeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr....dunno what to say????

Ultranomad

4th Mar 2006, 18:12

Well, it's difficult to add any more useful recommendations to those already posted, so I will just illustrate the topic. Here is a photo of my relocation from Berkeley, California to Paris, France in 1997: http://www.aviaforum.ru/album_pic.php?pic_id=10772

Rwy in Sight

5th Mar 2006, 20:22

T&T I just saw the thread. I think you posted the thread as a reason to visit a pprune a bit more!

Two points: What is a skip? and I loved the idea about colour labeling!

Rwy in Sight

tall and tasty

5th Mar 2006, 20:30

T&T I just saw the thread. I think you posted the thread as a reason to visit a pprune a bit more!
hahaha I don't think I need any more reasons to visit this site anymore and after still not getting very far with the packing I think it is going to take a while.

But to answer your question - a skip is a metal container of various sizes, volumetric capacity to allow people to basically chuck out what they don't want. It is then collected by the company that you ordered it from and the contents put in a land fill site, for a charge. Your rubbish is gone without any hassle.

But the colour coding is a good idea, I used it in the airline for applications so will use it now.

Oh well back to the fun and games of making boxes and filling them.

TnT

G-CPTN

5th Mar 2006, 20:35

What is a skip?

There are OTHER suppliers:-
http://www.topskips.com/images/big_skip_pic.jpg

Rwy in Sight

5th Mar 2006, 20:37

I am surpised how fast you answered my post.

I think you have to work by objectives. Empty a cupboard do some ppruning, pack a box do some ppruning.

YOu have to figure out the ratios though how much work for how much ppruning.

Rwy in Sight

tall and tasty

5th Mar 2006, 20:40

I think you have to work by objectives. Empty a cupboard do some ppruning, pack a box do some ppruning.

multi tasking, I can do that no problem :O . Give it a go thank you ;)

4. Select either a decent White / Red---consume----offer words of comfort and support / abuse as and when relevant----watch with interest.

Never fails !
Yep, good tips, these...:p
Of course a few well placed gushing words full of deep admiration over the raw masculine strength displayed by the aforementioned 'help' would only speed up the process...:O